Andrew Scott Opens Up About Coming Out As Gay
Image: Paul Mescal and Andrew Scott in 'All Of us Strangers'.
Actor Andrew Scott has shared his journey of embracing his identity as a gay man, drawing insights from his early experiences in the world of acting.
The Irish actor stars in the much-anticipated queer film All of Us Strangers alongside Paul Mescal, and revealed that his early roles in acting provided him with the courage to come out.
In a recent interview with The New York Times, Scott reminisced about being cast in gay roles during his early teenage years for acting opportunities, while being closeted.
These early experiences introduced Scott to the expansive LGBTQI community within the acting realm and encouraged him to feel “free”.
Brilliant Queer Colleagues
“When I was 18 or 19, I was playing gay parts but I wasn’t out. A lot of people within the industry were queer, so I was surrounded by them and then, bit by bit, started to feel confident. To make something like [“All of Us Strangers”], it moves me, because I never thought that I’d get a chance to expose myself so much in a film like this or for it to be in such a trusting environment with such brilliant colleagues”, Scott told NY Times interviewer Kyle Buchanan.
Based on the 1987 novel Strangers by Taichi Yamada, All of Us Strangers is a 2023 British romantic fantasy film written and directed by Andrew Haigh.
All of Us Strangers follows screenwriter Adam (Andrew Scott) who is drawn back to his childhood home and enters into a fledgling relationship with mysterious neighbour Harry (Paul Mescal) as he then discovers his parents appear to be living just as they were on the day they died, 30 years before.
Oscar nominee Graham Broadbent (The Banshees of Inisherin), described the film as “an opportunity to revisit your parents long after they might have passed and to have a dialogue”, musing on the question, “What would you tell your parents about your life if you were an adult and they were no longer with us?” to Vanity Fair magazine.
All Of Us Strangers
Scott described his character Adam as a “vessel for love”, and stated that the opportunity to be able to “play love” was something that “you have to just know how to embody”.
The Fleabag actor has been out for a decade and reflects thoughtfully on the industry’s calls for increased casting of gay actors in gay roles.
Recalling his earlier years, he shared, “I remember growing up and reading Empire magazine and thinking I would never get a chance to play leading roles in the cinema. And I am thrilled that has changed,” he says.
“As much as I feel like representation is important, so is transformation… I don’t love the idea of being cast for something purely for my own sexuality — you’re not just playing ‘gay’, you’re playing the attributes of the character. I don’t want a totalitarian regime — we have to look at each individual story we’re telling and what’s right for that”, he told Screen Daily.
Director Andrew Haigh described his vision for All of Us Strangers as built around the desire to “feel the subjective nature of having sex and what it feels like—the nervousness and the excitement and the physical sensation of being touched by someone else, and what that does to you”.
“There was chemistry between the two of them literally the second I saw them together. Both of them were pretty fearless. There was no sense of them being afraid of approaching those scenes. They knew how important they were”, Haigh added.
The film premiered at the 50th Telluride Film Festival on August 31 this year, and is set to open in Australian cinemas on January 18, 2024.
